NAIROBI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A Kenya Airways plane was forced to abort take-off on Wednesday at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi after a false bomb alarm by a passenger.
The police said the airport was temporarily closed after a commotion on a Johannesburg-bound Kenya Airways flight where a passenger was detained over 'false bomb' alarm.
A senior police officer at the airport confirmed the arrest of a passenger for allegedly raising a false alarm.
Police said commotion began after an argument between the said passenger and a flight attendant after the passenger mentioned the word 'bomb' during the argument, causing a scare in the plane, which was taxing ready for take-off.
This forced the pilot to abort the take off as the passenger was later arrested and handed over to police for interrogation.
"We have arrested the suspect and handed him to the anti-terrorism police officers for further interrogation," said the police officer who did not want to be identified.
He said JKIA which is a crucial transit point for various airlines coming in and going out of Africa, remains on temporary lock down after flights were grounded for screening.
Many affected passengers expressed their anger over the delays since several landing flights were diverted to other airports.
